Michelle Lujan Grisham’s sister Kimberly was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 2 years old. She quickly exhausted her lifetime caps on her health insurance.

Their parents spent every additional dollar they had on Kimberly’s medical care. But she died when she was 21, and Lujan Grisham’s parents spent decades after Kimberly’s death tapping every resource they had to pay off the debt.

Lujan Grisham knew she wanted to dedicate her life to the cause of improving access to affordable health care — a calling that ultimately propelled the New Mexican to Capitol Hill. As she heads to the House, she’s not just a health reform advocate, she’s become an emblem of the changing face of House Democrats, who this year have the first caucus in congressional history in which the majority of its members are women or minorities.

“We’re implementing the Affordable Care Act. We’re debating what it means in the future,” Lujan Grisham said in a recent interview. “These are opportunities for me to make a real, continued difference in the lives of the families not only in my district but across the country.”

Her roots in health care run deep. She led the New Mexico State Agency on Aging — a job that required her to go undercover at nursing homes to investigate patient abuse. In 2004, Lujan Grisham began serving as the secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health, and she now runs a health insurance consulting firm.

“We can do better having an effective health care policy,” said Lujan Grisham, 53. “And it saves us money.”

It’s no surprise that access to health care will be a top focus in Washington for Lujan Grisham, who wasn’t afraid to tout the benefits of the ACA during her campaign against Republican Janice Arnold-Jones. Lujan Grisham defeated Arnold-Jones 59 percent to 41 percent on Nov. 6 after emerging from a bruising three-way Democratic primary earlier in the year. The Albuquerque-based district was left vacant by Democratic Rep. Martin Heinrich, who ran for Senate.

“She’s going to be a source of intellectual capital to the caucus, particularly on health care issues, because she’s lived it,” said New York Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which named Lujan Grisham one of the party’s top recruits this cycle.

Latinos in particular made significant gains in the House this election cycle, with nine new members in the House, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. That brings the number of Latinos in the House to 28 — a historic high, according to NALEO.

“Our constituents have lost faith in us, and we have to look like and be able to relate to the people who are voting for us,” said Lujan Grisham, the first Latina to represent New Mexico in the House. “So as a single mom and a widow and a caregiver and a small-business owner, I related to those folks and those hardships, and that’s given me a unique perspective about how things have to change.”

The former Bernalillo County commissioner comes from a family intimately familiar with politics and public service. Her grandfather, Eugene Lujan, was the first Latino to serve as chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Former Rep. Manuel Luján (R-N.M.) and current Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) are relatives.

But Michelle Lujan Grisham said it wasn’t the political powerhouses in her family that gave her the most inspiration but rather, her parents.

Her father, Buddy, practiced dentistry into his 80s until he died in March 2011, sometimes providing free dental care for residents in Santa Fe. Her mother, Sonja, took care of Lujan Grisham and her sister, particularly through her medical problems.

“I watched my parents fight to protect their family, and they had to fight to do it,” said Lujan Grisham, a mother of two teenage daughters and whose husband died in 2004 of a brain aneurysm. “That inspired me to want to make a difference not only for us but for other families.”

Her top health care priorities include implementing the ACA, improving treatments for chronic care patients, maintaining access to contraceptives for women and highlighting nutrition policy. And with Kirtland Air Force Base housed in her district, Lujan Grisham said she also wants to focus on military and armed services issues.

“This is a place where you have to be really tenacious. You have to know what’s at stake,” Lujan Grisham said. “But I’m tenacious. Especially when I know people’s lives are at stake.”